Bygones and Birthdays

Last week Anna took the kids up to Aunt Cindy's and Uncle Kirk's in Fort Wayne, IN. Kirk and Cindy are fortunate enough to live on a nice piece of land complete with their own horse barn and riding grounds. This meant Wyatt was able to take a ride on Bailey, one of Cindy's horses. Anna was super pleased to inform me that Wyatt did great on the horse - even pinching his knees in as Bailey took him up a fairly steep hill. And she assures me that Wyatt has a great sense of balance ... which I shamelessly take credit for. Here are a few pics from the ride.

And, yesterday, was my birthday, which happened to fall on perhaps the most beautiful day of the year so far. Wow, it was a great day - spent first at church in worship, followed by a day at Victory Field with Wyatt and some friends and concluded with a family dinner under the Bur Oak tree of our home.

After enjoying a wonderful meal, I received two incredible gifts. The first came from my wife, who did it again. This time a messenger back made of recycled plastic and including another of Anna's very cool mixed-media collages. This particular collage includes a stamp from Russia, a train ticket from one of my train rides from Bucharest to Timasoria back in college and a piece of a basketball. She knows me.

And, finally, my brother-in-law, Drew, surprised me big time with a sweet gift ... a 1971 Terranaut road bike. He picked it up at an antique store. Found it in pretty good shape, in fact. Then, he did some good work in updating a few things and restoring a few others. So, in all, I have a sweet way to get around Greencastle now. I am blessed.